So many people want to fill the vacant 3rd District seat on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors that the current four supervisors are working to trim down the field.

To date, 48 qualified applicants — ranging from well known regional politicians to people with no public experience — have submitted their names for the $200,000-a-year job, which became vacant last month when former Supervisor James Ramos was elected Assemblyman for the 40th District.

The other supervisors plan to interview applicants next week and appoint Ramos’ replacement by January.

“There’s great diversity and a lot of great people, qualified people,” Supervisor Curt Hagman said Tuesday, Dec. 4.

But not every applicant will get face time with the supervisors.

“I do think we need to narrow it down in some form,” Hagman said.

Toward that goal, the supervisors are asking applicants to answer a list of 10 questions and submit those answers to the county clerk by Friday. Each supervisor then will read the answers and select his or her top ten applicants, submitting their lists to the county clerk by Monday morning. Applicants named by at least two supervisors will make it to a public interview, on Dec. 11 or Dec. 13.

The questions being asked of the would-be supervisors touch on everything from personal experience and relevant connections to public leaders in the district to national issues that touch San Bernardino County.

For example, supervisors want to know how each applicant believes the Endangered Species Act might affect local development, how the county’s Habitat Conservation Plan is going, and their familiarity with utility scale solar development. They also want applicants to offer an opinion about the long-term economic impact of the San Bernardino International Airport.

Since the 3rd District includes part of the city of San Bernardino, the board wants to know what the applicant thinks about the city’s 2012 bankruptcy and the importance of rebuilding the city’s economy.

The chosen appointee will serve the two years remaining in Ramos’ term. However, if they run for election they will be on the ballot in March 2020 due to the state’s move to earlier presidential primaries.

Supervisor Josie Gonzales voted against the plan to narrow the field, preferring to allow all 48 applicants three minutes each to address the board before narrowing down the list.

“I’m looking forward to a surprise. I’m looking to be impressed,” Gonzales said. “Filling the supervisorial position with an appointee is so super rare that, for me, I want to hear from each one of them.”

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The 48 applicants, whose names were made public Wednesday, include former and current local elected officials, former state lawmakers, and political candidates who lost races in November.

Former 3rd District Supervisors Neil Derry (2008 to 2012) and Dennis Hansberger (1972 to 1980, 1996 to 2008) have applied for the seat.

Additionally, Sean Flynn, the Republican candidate who last month lost by 17.4 percentage points in his bid to take the 31st Congressional seat from incumbent Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-San Bernardino, has applied.

“I’m under no illusion that I am the best qualified candidate. There are people who will know a lot more about the position,” said Flynn, of Redlands. “But I think I have something to offer as an economist, and I got to know a very large chunk of the 3rd supervisorial district well.”

Other applicants include Ramos’ Deputy Chief of Staff Chris Carrillo; former Republican State Sen. Bill Emmerson; former Assemblyman and current San Bernardino Community College District Board Trustee John Longville; Chris Mann, founder of the Inland Empire Taxpayers Association; and Jim Bagley, member of the Local Agency Formation Commission and former mayor of Twentynine Palms; and Jan Leja, chairwoman of the San Bernardino County Republican Party.

Several of the applicants currently sit on local City Councils including the city of San Bernardino’s outgoing mayor, Carey Davis; Loma Linda Mayor Rhodes Rigsby; Loma Linda City Councilman Ron Dailey; Redlands City Councilman Eddie Tejeda; Big Bear Mayor Rick Herrick; Big Bear City Councilman William Jahn; Barstow Mayor Julie Hackbarth-McIntyre; and Yucaipa Mayor Greg Bogh, among others.

Until the board makes an appointment, 3rd District Field Representative Gayle Covey will be the point of contact for constituents.

The district includes all or portions of the cities of San Bernardino, Grand Terrace, Colton, Loma Linda, Highland, Redlands, Yucaipa, Barstow, Big Bear Lake and Twentynine Palms, the Town of Yucca Valley, and surrounding unincorporated communities.